


oceans rise and empires fall

by aliensroutthere



Series: Zutara Month 2017 [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Bending, BAMF!Katara, Business, F/M, Theft, UST, mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 21:40:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13039971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliensroutthere/pseuds/aliensroutthere
Summary: in which Zuko is a member of the most powerful, rich family in the world, and Katara is a modern-day Robin Hood. (AU)





	1. the break-in

**Author's Note:**

> and my very late contribution for Zutara month day 4 arrives!  
> 

Prompt: Enemies to Lovers

* * *

 

The Eyes of Agni corporation was the most powerful business in the world. They had business in virtually every market, from food to clothing to furniture to technology. The company itself was worth trillions of dollars.

 

That made the family who owned the corporation, the Sozin family, the richest family on the planet.

 

The Eyes of Agni was founded by Sozin (who only went by one name), and had begun in the technology industry, making new models of phones, tablets, and computers. As they had become more wealthy, they bought out other companies, and the Eyes of Agni gained more and more power globally.

 

When Sozin died, he passed the company down to his son, Azulon. Azulon passed the company to his second son, Ozai, after disowning Iroh, his first-born. After Ozai, the company was to be passed on to Ozai’s son, Zuko.

 

Zuko lived with his father and sister, Azula, in Caldera City, where the main offices of the Eyes of Agni were located. He worked with his father in preparation to one day take over the company, and to keep things running smoothly. And everything _did_ run smoothly at Eyes of Agni. The company was a well-oiled machine, kept in line under the strict command of Ozai.

 

Until one day.

 

Zuko sat in his office, lost in thought, when the Head of Commercial Security entered the room, looking mildly panicked.

 

“Mr Sozin, sir!” The man said, eyeing Zuko uneasily. "I have something to report.”

 

Zuko looked up. “Yes?” he frowned.

 

“There has been a break in at the main store,” the man said quickly.

 

“A break in? Was anything taken?” Zuko said, leaning forward in his chair. _Father will not be happy about this._

 

“They took some electronics, some jewellery… mostly smaller, more expensive things. My team has the full list. The thief also broke lots of the display cases. We can’t make out any features from security tapes, the thief was in all black and they had a mask.”

 

Zuko’s frown deepened. _Knowing Father, I’m going to take the blame for this somehow,_ he thought.

 

“Thank you,” he said to the Security Head. “I’m going to look into this personally. Get me all the information you have on this, and get it fast.”

 

“Yes, sir,” said the Security Head, and he hurried out of the room.

 

Zuko sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. _Father already isn’t pleased with me,_ he thought. _And now there’s this mess. Fan-fucking-tastic,_

 

o~O~o

 

That night, Zuko sat alone in the security office of Agni’s main store, studying the security footage from the break-in. The thief was short (he’d guess around 5”5), and had a slender build. The thief’s mask was partially obscured by their hood, but Zuko thought it looked like something someone would wear to a masquerade party; it was blue and gold.

 

 _We can probably track the stuff they stole, unless they go by hand… that won’t work,_ Zuko thought. _And the security footage hardly helps. A short-ish person who has a mask?_

 

Zuko’s thoughts were interrupted by his phone buzzing in his pocket. He took it out and groaned when he saw who was calling him, before swiping across the screen.

 

“Hello, Father.”

 

“I received the news that there was a break-in. What is being done about it?”

 

Zuko frowned. ‘ _Hello, Zuko. How was your day? Have you eaten dinner?’ It’s not that hard to ask._

 

“I am looking into the matter personally. I will see to it that the thief is caught and properly punished.”

 

“Good. Send me an update on this case in two days. Do not alert the authorities.”            

 

“Of course n-” The line went dead. Zuko rolled his eyes. _Typical Father,_ he thought. _At least he hasn’t threatened me about it yet._

 

Zuko turned his attention back to the security footage. _If I just stay here at night, I can catch the thief if they turn up again,_ he thought, and he sighed. _Good-bye, sleep._

 

_It looks this fucking closet is my new bedroom._


	2. first encounters

After four nights spent in the cramped security office, Zuko had yet to see anything suspicious moving throughout the store. 

 

He groaned. The last few nights in this office - closet - had been hell. The small space was littered with empty cups that had once held coffee, and packages of takeout food. 

 

_ If I have to spend another night in here, I will scream,  _ Zuko thought. 

 

Ozai had not been pleased when Zuko had nothing to report to him after two days. The conversation had not been pleasant, and Zuko shuddered when he thought of the menacing note in his father’s voice.

 

Zuko looked at the clock, and silently debated whether he should get himself another coffee, or just go straight to Red Bull. Maybe even mix them? It was only 2:30am, he still had six and a half hours until the store opened for the day, and he needed the energy. 

 

Zuko’s thoughts of caffeine were interrupted when he saw a flash of movement on one of the computer screens. He quickly scanned the many monitors, looking for anything suspicious. 

 

On the screen, he caught a short-ish figure darting towards the men’s clothing section of the store. 

 

_ Bingo.  _

 

Zuko rose and quickly headed into the main store, making sure his movement was silent. He made sure he had his phone with him, and hurried towards the men’s section. 

 

When he got there, he scanned the area for any sign of the thief. He found them standing in front of a case of expensive watches. Zuko crept closer. 

 

He watched as the thief reached a gloved hand into a pocket and pulled out a rock, before using the rock to smash the display case. As the alarms began to blare, the thief grabbed as many of the watches as they could. 

 

Zuko took action. 

 

“Freeze!” He commanded, in his best impression of his father, and rose to his full height. 

 

The thief did indeed freeze, and they slowly turned around, still with an armful of watches. 

 

“Put them down,” Zuko said firmly. He noticed that this time, the thief wore not a mask, but a bandana that covered the bottom half of their face but left their eyes visible. Big, blue eyes, that were currently narrowed at Zuko.

 

For a moment, the thief remained still. They seemed to be calculating what to do next. 

 

Zuko took a step forward. 

 

The thief immediately darted away, and began to sprint towards the main exit with Zuko hot on their heels. 

 

The thief lept over a rack of sweaters, and without breaking stride, pushed it into Zuko’s path. He pushed it out of the way with a snarl, and continued his hot pursuit of the thief. 

 

As they neared the doors, both the thief and Zuko saw bars lowering over the exit. Zuko smirked in triumph. 

 

_ Try to run through iron, fucker! _

 

To his surprise, the thief didn’t even slow down. They held up their rock, and threw it hard at the glass doors. Their aim was true, and the rock hit its target, shattering one of the doors entirely. The thief sped up, and dove under the iron bars as they neared the ground, rolling across the floor until they reached the shattered glass. They stood and looked back at Zuko, who glared at them from the other side of the bars. Their blue eyes glittered with laughter. 

 

Zuko cursed under his breath, and the thief blew a kiss at him before turning and running off into the night.

 

For some reason, he couldn’t shake the thought of the thief’s big, blue eyes from his head. 


End file.
